Last night was exactly what I needed. I ran home after work, cut up veggies, and took the chipotle dip [scroll down, please] over to Momma Guerin's. Her partner made two kinds of enchiladas, refried black beans, guac, salsa...we ate until we were rolling around. In the back yard, far enough from the deck (and the babies) to be safe, we had a fire pit. I spent a good two hours by the fire, talking to people as they came and went. There was flirting with new people. There were dominoes games. There was surprisingly little alcohol (at least for me). But I laughed until my face hurt.

And would you believe it - nobody broke into my car! The house was intact when I got home at 12:30! There were no repurcussions at all!

Aaaaah. That was gooood.

2003-09-23 - 4:52 p.m.

My recipe for hummus is up and available! Over the next few days, I'll be posting recipes over on that site, so be sure to stop by. Right now I'm mastering a gingerbread recipe; tonight's the third try, and it should be almost perfect. I've lowered the oil content a little by using fruit purees; so far the best-tasting is fig. Full instructions tomorrow.

This, by the way, is my solution to being ticked off. For a few days I'm going back to what I know best: food. I usually serve as a reference for friends and family, so if anybody has questions - how to tell when the steak's medium, or why salting your pasta water is a good idea, that kind of stuff - feel free to ask. Otherwise I'll just launch recipes and menus at you and hope for the best.

I promise, though, not to forget about baseball. Here come the playoffs!